Title: The One
Author: Lorhainne Eckhart
Genre: Adult Romance
Publication: December 23, 2013
Margaret Gordon was once a prominent Seattle surgeon, until a slip of the knife leaves a young boy without a future. Margaret is fired and returns to her hometown, the perfect spot to hide out from everyone and to lick her wounds, with no one around but her horse.
Margaret never considered herself a horse person. In truth, she understands horses better than people. And when the now-widowed Joe Wilde drives in one morning with a teenage boy and a horse with a problem, Margaret turns into that klutzy teenage misfit that silently carried a torch for Joe all through school. But when smooth-talking Joe convinces Margaret into working with the temperamental horse, she grows closer to his son Ryan, and soon learns the horse’s issues have more to do with father and son, and Ryan’s anxiety over the fact his father is now dating a woman who is only interested in the sexy Joe Wilde, and not his misfit of a son.
The only problem is Ryan wants Margaret to be his mother, so he takes matters into his own hands setting Margaret in his father’s path, every chance he gets. Even though sparks fly and sizzle between them Joe believes Margaret has despised him all his life, and decides all his rebellious son needs is a mother. But when Joe proposes marriage to the wrong woman, his son takes off with a backpack and a feisty horse, into the Backcountry.
Except to Joe’s surprise, it’s Margaret who saddles up her horse, and heads off alone with him in over a hundred of miles of wilderness in a race against time and the elements to find his son. And with his son's life in jeopardy will that be enough for Joe and Margaret to put aside their differences and realize that the other is, The One?
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Excerpt
Excerpt
Joe stood outside the old log house with single-paned windows, the Spick house, watching the closed door Margaret Gordon had slammed in his face as if he were a leper and she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. Just what the hell was the matter with the woman, anyhow?
She had always acted as though she had a stick shoved up her ass. All through school, she’d gone out of her way to avoid him, though she had mile-long legs that he had often pictured wrapped around him. Her long, thick, dark hair framed the most gorgeous smoky brown eyes and a cute round face. To top it off, she had a light smattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks that she never tried to hide with a pound of makeup. Her skin was flawless, and those lips—he dreamed of taking them for a test drive.
It was obvious the woman thought he was lower than a dung beetle. To tell the truth, he was embarrassed that his son had watched that woman try to emasculate him. Just what the hell was she doing, living out here all by herself, anyway? Last he heard, she’d hopped the first bus to Seattle for medical school. He’d seen her a few times over the years, and she had always had the same snobbish, stuck-up attitude, walking around as if she was better than everyone, looking right through him as if she didn’t see him.
He’d seen her in town a few months back. She was tall and gorgeous, with a set of breasts he dreamed of running his hands over, feeling the weight of them. He had pictured what they’d look like, full and creamy with dark red nipples. Well, at the time, he’d nearly gone over and asked her out, but his common sense had kicked in, and he remembered that she had fought over money with her mother when her grandfather hadn’t even been cold in the ground. Carl Spick would’ve rolled over in his grave if he’d seen the way his granddaughter and daughter acted, like two selfish moneygrubbers. Joe didn’t need a woman like that in his life. Even now, he could barely make ends meet. With the economy in the toilet, he’d all but given up on ranching. He’d sold off the last of his cattle the year before Carl died and had started taking out trees here and there in the back, milling the lumber himself.
Here he was again, all because Stan Jerow had told him Margaret was still here. He had insisted that Margaret was who Joe needed for Ryan’s horse, that she could work magic with any animal. Her grandfather had said Margaret had a special connection to them, a certain touch. Whatever was going on with his horse, Ryan’s horse, Margaret would figure it out. When he’d driven in and seen her in that ratty old hat and wool coat, he’d felt poleaxed. He would never have believed a woman could make anything that frumpy look sexy. The way she had walked, all sexy in those faded blue jeans, along with the fact that she didn’t need to curl and primp just to step outside, had all his good sense taking a hike, which was the one and only reason he had worked her until she agreed to come and see Storm. Whatever he was thinking with, it sure in the hell hadn’t been his brain. As he bent over and picked up the broken mug, he reminded himself that he had until that afternoon to pull his head out of his ass, have her look at the horse, and then send her on her way
She had always acted as though she had a stick shoved up her ass. All through school, she’d gone out of her way to avoid him, though she had mile-long legs that he had often pictured wrapped around him. Her long, thick, dark hair framed the most gorgeous smoky brown eyes and a cute round face. To top it off, she had a light smattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks that she never tried to hide with a pound of makeup. Her skin was flawless, and those lips—he dreamed of taking them for a test drive.
It was obvious the woman thought he was lower than a dung beetle. To tell the truth, he was embarrassed that his son had watched that woman try to emasculate him. Just what the hell was she doing, living out here all by herself, anyway? Last he heard, she’d hopped the first bus to Seattle for medical school. He’d seen her a few times over the years, and she had always had the same snobbish, stuck-up attitude, walking around as if she was better than everyone, looking right through him as if she didn’t see him.
He’d seen her in town a few months back. She was tall and gorgeous, with a set of breasts he dreamed of running his hands over, feeling the weight of them. He had pictured what they’d look like, full and creamy with dark red nipples. Well, at the time, he’d nearly gone over and asked her out, but his common sense had kicked in, and he remembered that she had fought over money with her mother when her grandfather hadn’t even been cold in the ground. Carl Spick would’ve rolled over in his grave if he’d seen the way his granddaughter and daughter acted, like two selfish moneygrubbers. Joe didn’t need a woman like that in his life. Even now, he could barely make ends meet. With the economy in the toilet, he’d all but given up on ranching. He’d sold off the last of his cattle the year before Carl died and had started taking out trees here and there in the back, milling the lumber himself.
Here he was again, all because Stan Jerow had told him Margaret was still here. He had insisted that Margaret was who Joe needed for Ryan’s horse, that she could work magic with any animal. Her grandfather had said Margaret had a special connection to them, a certain touch. Whatever was going on with his horse, Ryan’s horse, Margaret would figure it out. When he’d driven in and seen her in that ratty old hat and wool coat, he’d felt poleaxed. He would never have believed a woman could make anything that frumpy look sexy. The way she had walked, all sexy in those faded blue jeans, along with the fact that she didn’t need to curl and primp just to step outside, had all his good sense taking a hike, which was the one and only reason he had worked her until she agreed to come and see Storm. Whatever he was thinking with, it sure in the hell hadn’t been his brain. As he bent over and picked up the broken mug, he reminded himself that he had until that afternoon to pull his head out of his ass, have her look at the horse, and then send her on her way
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About Lorhainne
2012 was an amazing year in the publishing world for me, and it started with The Forgotten Child, which landed on the Amazon bestseller list for western romance and romance series. 2013 has seen me posted in the top 100 authors on Amazon for romantic suspense, mystery/thrillers, and police procedurals.
Where did it all begin? In 2008, I published my first novel, The Captain’s Lady, a contemporary military romance, through The Wild Rose Press. I’ve since received the rights back from my publisher, and I rewrote the book and republished it with a brand new title, Saved.
I write edgy romantic suspense (Walk the Right Road Series), western romance (Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series), and young adult mystery, and I warn my readers to expect the unexpected. I’m a mother of three children and we live on a small island in the Pacific Northwest. I encourage you to contact me by email; I do answer every email I receive.
Stay tuned. There is more to come from the Walk the Right Road Series and Finding Love ~ The Outsider Series, as well as a brand new western romance series coming later this fall, The One.
And to my readers and all of you who have shared my stories with your family and friends, a big, heartfelt thank-you.
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